"[Vanderbilt] did a good job setting the tone start to finish. They played hard and protected their court. [Jeffery] Taylor did a really good job to set the pace. We did not shoot well and there was no real follow-though. We weren't able to consistently get inside. [Vanderbilt] did a good job across the board, start to finish."

(On Tennessee's 25 Turnovers:)

"We've got to take care of the ball. I can't count just one thing that led to that."

(On Whether He Was Frustrated with His Team's Play:)

"No [I wasn't frustrated with their play], I was frustrated with 25 turnovers. If my team plays hard, I can deal with that. If you are turning the ball over, you can't find a chance to win."

"I think [they focused on him in scouting]. He's a young guy and a physical presence around the rim. They made him work for everything and he had seven turnovers. I think it is a good thing for him to go through. It's a good lesson for him."

(On Falling Behind Early in the Game:)

"They ran off... We couldn't make shots and had too many turnovers. When you have turnovers and don't make baskets, you can't win. We settled some in the second half."

(On if the Game Was Too Physical:)

"Not from our standpoint. Yemi [Makanjuola] is a physical guy. He wasn't trying to hurt anyone. In Jarnell [Stokes'] case, I couldn't see what happened. Neither team is built to play that way."

(On Vanderbilt's Play:)

"They are a good team, experienced. We didn't play as well as we are capable of, but they are a good team. "

(On the Positives of Tennessee's Performance:)

"I like the way Wes Washpun defended the ball. I liked the way Yemi [Makanjuola] came in and played. I thought we did a good job at times, those two especially."

(On Whether Today's Loss is a Setback:)

"Not at all. We have to get back to work and keep pushing. We have to find a way to compete and win on the road. We just have to get back to work."

(On the early problems:)
"The turnovers really hurt us. I heard that we had more turnovers than we had baskets. You're not going to win a game like that, or even get close, so it was really hard for us tonight."

(On how physical the game was:)
"It was real physical, probably the most physical all year that I've played in. I guess a couple of the guys got rattled. A couple of our guards had a tough time catching the ball on the wing, so it was just hard for us all around."

(On the play when he got injured:)
"They were coming to double, and I went right into it. The top of my head hit Ezeli's chest/chin area, and that kind of just jammed my neck. I went down. I kind of blacked out for a second. It was a little tingly feeling."

(On the frustrations of a loss after a win:)
"It's very frustrating because we were pretty high after that win. We came in with the right kind of mind set, and were hoping to go out here and make it a good game, but as we saw we couldn't do that today."

(On embracing the road environment:)
"As a ball player you have to love going in someone else's gym, especially when it's a hostile environment. We all have to be tougher. We're a tough team, but on the road we don't bring the same energy as we do when we're at home."

(On Stokes turnovers:)
"He wasn't used to the physicality of it. This is the most physical game that I've played in. I think he has to get his elbows up. His turnovers were all down in the paint, when they were swiping the ball from him as he was trying to go up, so we'll get that corrected."

(On Vandy playing more physical:)
"It kind of threw us off. We weren't expecting them to come out and deny on wings. We couldn't get the ball in. We were posting at odd angles and weird places. We just have to get in the gym and refocus."

Guard Trae Golden(On Taylor guarding him:)
"He's a big guy. They just did a really good job of switching screens. All of their one through four men can really guard the guards on the wing, and they did a really good job of doing that. They played a great defensive game and held us to a bad shooting night."

(On the turnover problem:)
"I wish I knew so we could figure it out. I think we're just rushing, and getting caught up in the crowd. That's just something that really hurts us. 25 turnovers tonight, I think there were 30 points off of turnovers, there's no way you can win an SEC basketball game on the road with that. It's tough."

(On the loss after the win:)
"I think it's hard because you feel like you're on a roll, and then you come in here and they kind of handled us. It's something that we just have to keep working at. We have to cut down on the turnovers. In the second half of UConn I think we had one turnover, and that was really good, and that's something we need to really make sure that we focus on and get better at."

(On getting pushed around:)
"I guess it was surprising because we I feel like we hang our hat on being tough. They played a great game defensively and offensively. My hat's off to them. They did a great job tonight."

Vanderbilt Head Coach Kevin Stallings

(Opening Comments:)
"It was a very physical game, which I anticipated. I thought our guys really defended, and defended for 40 minutes. We were active defensively and created a lot of turnovers. I thought we did a better job of defending the three than in the second half of the Mississippi State game."

(On Tennessee's 25 Turnovers:)
"We were active. Our hands got in a lot of balls... It was a very physical battle. We have older, physical guys and they played well."

(On Vanderbilt's Festus Ezeli:)
"He means a lot to us offensively and defensively. He creates foul trouble. He... gets fouled a lot. Then, defensively, if we get beat off the dribble, he's back there to clean up the problem."

(On Vanderbilt Playing with Passion:)
"It's a rivalry game. We feel like... last year, we let the games [against Tennessee] get away from us. Our guys were in tune and wanted to play, and played very well."

(On Vanderbilt's Jeffrey Taylor:)
"The thing with Jeff is that he's active defensively, active on the boards, and active offensively in his cutting. He gets himself to open shots. He played a complete game... He took the right shots and was an active player. When Jeff is active, he's very good."

(On Whether Vanderbilt's Practice Was Indicative of Tonight's Performance:)
"I've learned to not take anything for granted. That's all I can say. They played hard and they played well. They were down with what happened in the second half on Saturday [against Mississippi State]. They're going to rebound in almost any situation, but they can do enough like what they did at the end of the game on Saturday night to keep me guessing."

(On Vanderbilt's Fast Start:)
"It was great. We were up 19 at halftime and we weren't relaxed... It's about us getting better. That's the key for our team. Our focus [tonight at halftime] was on the second half. We wanted to play as well as we did in the first half, especially defensively, and I think we did."

Forward Jeffery Taylor(On a solid rebounding performance:)
"I've had a couple of good games other than this one, but it felt good tonight. From the start, the ball was just bouncing to me. I tried to make a concerted effort of getting to the boards and helping out the big guys inside and getting second chance opportunities and the ball just happened to go to me."

(On looking towards March:)
"I think we came out and established ourselves from the beginning with the right amount of intensity and toughness on defense. As we've seen the last couple of years, the last team standing is the one that plays the best defense, so that's what we want to do."

Forward Festus Ezeli(On coming into the game after a tough loss to Mississippi State:)
"After that game we were very disappointed because it was not even a failure of doing assignments, it was more a failure of effort. We just came out with intensity tonight and we said we weren't going to do that again, so that was good for us."

(On Tennessee's Jarnell Stokes:)
"He's a big boy, so that was their game. They walk you up the lane, so you try to take that away as much as possible."

(On the rivalry with Tennessee:)
"Each year you come in here and you learn a little bit about the tradition, so you kind of stick with it. It becomes a part of you. I'm a part of Vanderbilt, so that's part of me as well."

Guard John Jenkins(On starting the game strong:)
"We got a great start. We had a lot of energy, a lot of passion. That first start got us the win almost because we came out so hard, it was easy for us to just keep going with it. We didn't have much of a let- down in the second half so that was good."

(On improving his defensive game:)
"I guess having more awareness. Part of my problem was I was kind of using it as an excuse, moving around so much, it was affecting my defense. I went to the USA team and I knew I wouldn't play unless I played defense. I kind of carried it back to here and so it's been working for me. I've been studying a lot of film on guys and just doing that."

(On Tennessee's Yemi Makanjuola's ejection from the game:)
"He got me pretty good, but he actually just apologized to me right before I came in here. There wasn't any hard feelings, I know how the game goes when emotions get hot."